The Quiet of War
by Esta Bondevik
Summary: To them, Mathias Køhler was perfect. His brothers, not so much. He would do anything for his brothers, so they caught the first boat to Sweden. But it's the middle of World War II. Will their world and their new family hold together? (Main pairing hetero SuFin. Also, platonic DenSu, SuNor, and NorFin)
1. Prologue

**Hello!**

**I'm technically supposed to be working on two other stories (A Nation's Choice and Ink on Night) but I got the idea for this on a trip this summer, fleshed it out a bit, and it's going really well.**

**There is a lot of historical basis for this as well. This story takes place during World War II, so I looked into what was going on in Copenhagen and Helsinki during that time, but also used a bit of existing knowledge I had from Lois Lowry's "Number the Stars".**

**If some character seems maybe a little OOC, it might be because of the situation, but if it bugs you, I don't mind if you shoot me a PM or review, as that might not always be the case.**

**A little bit of Danish and Swedish (and maybe Finnish) will be used, so I'll put a little translation thingy at the bottom author's note.**

**Updates will usually be made ASAP.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_April 9th, 1940, 0420_

They came in boats. The early morning's sleepy silence was punctured by the nearing sound of icebreaker boats in the distance. Most people who were awoken by the sound stuck their heads out of windows and doors to observe and gossip about it with neighbors. Others, like the Køhlers, emerged from to the streets curiously, sleepy children in tow.

Eventually, the sun began to peek from the flat horizon, pooling dim light in the streets, barely light enough to see.

The squashy sound of marching feet trickled through the city. Cristian Køhler stepped in front of the passing lines of German men.

"What are you doing?" He demanded of one.

"Cristian, please." Astrid Køhler, 9-month-old baby Emil on her hip, placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Let these men continue their business."

He shifted from her grasp and confronted the soldiers once more. "And what might this business be?" He raised an eyebrow.

No-one noticed the 3 soldiers in the middle of the lines move to raise their guns but Lukas. The 6-year-old, who always had an otherworldly expression, like he wasn't really in the room, sprang forward suddenly towards the soldiers.

"Nej! Du kan ikke! Stoppe! Mor! Far! Emil! Behage!" The boy shreiked, running towards the soldiers, the last word a desperate wail.

3 shots snapped the quiet.

Mathias, the eldest at 9 years of age, watched in shock from the open kitchen window as his family fell to the ground. He ducked under the sill, praying the German men wouldn't see him.

As the soldiers continued on, no-one noticed who stepped on Emil's leg, or who hit Lukas on the head with the butt of their gun.

Hours later, Mathias went outside to find his brothers still alive. Lukas had opened his eyes, and was greeted happily by his older brother. He immediately burst into tears, clutching at his head with one hand, and wailing "I can't hear you!" into Mathias' knee.

Neither brother had much medical knowledge, and due to their knowing no way to set bones, Emil was left crippled. Their father had been shot twice in the chest, their mother once. Both were dead.

They were buried hastily in their backyard by the boys themselves.

The altercation with the Germans was never recorded.

Within 3 hours, Denmark was seized by Germany, and the Køhler boys were left alone in the war-torn world.

* * *

**I swear this is a chapter fic! Hang in there! I might even double-update today so... Anyway,**

**Translation:**

**Nej! Du kan ikke! Stoppe! Mor! Far! Emil! Behage!=No! You can't! Stop! Mother! Father! Emil! Please! (Danish)**

**I have a writing tumblr, estabondevik, if you would like to follow me. I usually put extra resources (mainly visual) for my stories, so if you would like to see things like house layouts, and other things that you want help visualizing, check there. Feel free to send requests for things to put there too! If you're like: "Hey I wanna know what the Køhlers' house looks like" in my PM inbox or in the reviews, I could be like "Sure! Totally! I'll draw one and post it!" because I think all of these things through while I create the story.**

**Feel free to talk to me! It doesn't ruin my day or anything! I'll talk to you about anything!**

**Until next time,**

**Cheers!**

**-Esta**


	2. Chapter 1

**It's still today and I'm back! I decided I might as well add at least the first chapter, especially because the end of the prologue seems so final.**

**So here it is!**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_September 14th, 1943. 0845._

The brothers watched the Navy Yard safely from windows now. Today their watching was with interest, and even Mathias, usually working, was doing it.

A group of Danes, wishing the Nazis out of their hair, had seized control of 32 large naval vessels.

The Germans sank 15 of the Danish-controlled ships as the brothers watched. When it was obviously the fighting was over, as the 17 remaining Danish ships started towards a secret, prearranged port, Mathias set down the work he was mindlessly fumbling with.

"Emil! Are you and Lukas ready?" The 12-year-old called up the stairs.

"Ja!" Came the reply. A pause. "Lukas says he's ready too!"

Mathias ascended the stairs to his brothers' room. They were sitting side-by-side in the windowsill bench. Lukas was reading, as he did often. Emil was gazing out the window at the streets. They bustled with activity, given that the Køhlers lived in central Copenhagen.

"Your bags are these?" Mathias pointed to the two suitcases, neatly laid side-by-side (probably by Lukas, a neat freak) next to Emil's bed. The 3-year-old nodded and shifted on the bench so Mathias could pick him up. Lukas looked up, sensing the movement, and simply looked at Mathias, who grinned goofily. The 9-year-old barely smiled anymore, and it broke his brother's heart.

Mathias motioned towards the bags, mimed picking them up, and pointed down the stairs. Lukas nodded, put his book in his bag, and did what Mathias had instructed. Mathias grabbed his own suitcase, and they started towards the port.

* * *

_September 14th, 1943. 1400._

Mathias looked tiredly at Lukas. He sat, legs curled to his chest, enviously watching the other families on the vessel. They were eating lunch. All around them, sandwiches, fruit, bottles of water, and sometimes even juice, were being pulled out of baskets and bags, much to the boys' chagrin.

"Mathias we forgot to bring lunch." Emil had whispered, moving himself on Mathias' lap to turn and look at the other passengers.

"Iskolde, it's not polite to stare." Emil had picked up the nickname, Icey, from the shock of near-white hair that resided on his head.

Mathias had turned to Lukas to tell him the same thing, but something about his little brother mad him falter. He looked at people on the boat with his usual, spaced-out look, but such a longing, a sadness, a quietude stronger it had been in younger years, had crept upon the boy. This was a broken child. He'd seen things he never should've had to see. He had grown up too fast. He was tired, hungry, and most likely very scared.

"Emil." Mathias murmured into the toddler's hair. "Go give your brother a hug, will you?" The child nodded, allowing Mathias to lift him next to Lukas.

The 9-year-old turned his head to look at his brother. Emil scooted himself across the steely floor, then buried his face in Lukas' shoulder, his little arms wrapping around only part of the other's slim shoulders. Lukas leaned his head towards Emil, unwrapping a skinny arm from his shins to enclose his warm baby brother.

Lukas eventually drifted to sleep like that. Mathias gently removed Emil, placing him back on the bench. He leaned Luka's head against the wall and placed his arm back around his knees.

He talked to Emil for a while, mostly about how cool boats were, and how the brothers wanted wienerbrød when they got to Sweden.

Emil curled up and laid his head on Mathias' lap, Mathias leaned against the wall, and the Køhlers were lulled to sleep by the gentle Baltic waves.

* * *

**Ta-dah! A first chapter!**

**I love boats. This boat was based off of a boat I took in Scotland in the North Sea. (Where we also forgot lunch...) It was a nice trip though, albeit a bit cold!**

**Notes:**

**Iskolde=Icy (Danish). A play on the fact that Denmark calls Iceland "Icey" in Hetalia.**

**Weinerbrød=Danishes. In Denmark they are called Wienerbrød due to the fact they are actually from Vienna, Austria! Fun fact: Croissants, while usually associated with France, are also originally from Austria!**

**Have a nice day/night/lunch break/sickie/class period!**

**Tchüss!**

**-Esta**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello! I have like a bunch of chapters already written, so depending on how long they end up being, and how much time it takes me to write new ones, there will be nice, frequent updates. Hooray!**

**Thank you to FunSoul and N92.9141b for following so quickly! It's really appreciated!**

**Also, a note: ****_Italics mean that a person is speaking in Swedish_****.**

**And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, THE STORY.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_September 15th, 1943. 1830._

As evening began to fall, a black Volvo pulled up to the Stockholm port. The two passengers exited and waited at the docks for the boat they were expecting to arrive from Copenhagen.

There were supposedly three orphans, all brothers, on the vessel, for whom arrangements were made to live with a Swedish family, of which two were at the docks, the father and daughter.

Once passengers began to alight the ship, the girl pointed out a boy with another, smaller boy on his back to her father. He nodded and showed her there was another boy following them closely.

"_Is that them?_" She asked, brushing her long blonde hair behind her shoulders. Her father nodded. They went to meet the boys. The older boy smiled at them, but the other two looked confused.

"You're Mathias?" Her father said, moving to take the boy from his back. Mathias nodded.

"This is Lukas, and Emil." He pointed to the other two respectively.

"I'm Bjorn. Bjorn Oxenstierna. You c'n jus' call me Papa."

The small group moved towards their car. From Mr. Oxenstierna's back, Emil stared curiously at the tall, mysterious girl.

"Emil, ikke stirre." Mathias scolded. The girl figured the child was being told off for staring, since the phrase was similar enough to her Swedish "_Inte stirra._", and decided to introduce herself.

"I'm Daniela." She told Emil. "'M your new sister." The child looked surprised that she had spoken to him. She probably scared him. She went into a moment of self-consciousness (as she was prone to) and fell silent again.

They piled into the car, the Køhlers seated in the back seat, and the Oxenstiernas in front. They began the drive to the Oxenstiernas' house, towards the center of Stockholm.

As they pulled out of the dockyard, Mathias suddenly began talking excitedly and happily. Lukas kept gazing out the window, but Emil looked surprised. He leaned his head on Mathias' shoulder and listened to his brother talk so happily he made himself cry.

* * *

_September 15th, 1943. 2000._

Once the boys had gotten settled with their luggage in their room, they all got together for their first family dinner.

"Lukas, pass th' potatoes please." Daniela asked. The boy didn't respond. Her face gave flickers of offense, self-consciousness, and confusion as she asked again. Mathias passed the bowl himself, being next closest.

"Lukas is deaf." He said quietly, like it pained him to say the words.

Daniela blushed a bit. "Oh. 'M sorry. I didn't know."

"No, I should've told you."

They dropped the subject. Mrs. Oxenstierna (or Mama, as she fancied to be called) asked the boys how their journey was as they ate gratefully.

"Daniela, will you go to the kitchen please?" Mama asked. The girl nodded and brought back a plate. On it was what appeared to be a smooth green log with a little candy rose on top.

Emil leaned towards it in wonder. "What is it?" He exclaimed, looking at Daniela hopefully.

"Prinsesstårte." She replied. "You c'n 'ave some once Papa cuts it." She handed her father the cake knife and returned to her seat.

They each recieved a slice. Emil ate the cake quickly, happily, and messily, which could be expected for a child his age, but earned him a look from his brothers. Lukas ate each component seperately and carefully: the light green marzipan, the sponge cake, the icing, then the custard. Mathias ate messily, but savored every bite. Daniela watched with interest as she ate her own slice, trying to dissect the details of these boys who just became her brothers.

* * *

**And that's all for today!**

**Notes:**

**Daniela (if you didn't already figure out) is FemSweden.**

**Prinsesstårte is really good. You can actually get something similar to it at IKEA. The only difference being that the IKEA kind has jam instead of custard as far as I can tell.**

**Until next time, have a nice day/night/whatever!**

**-Esta**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello Readers!**

**Just a heads-up, I start school on Tuesday, so updates will likely be a bit slower (say once a week, on weekends) due to homework and the like, as I have to write the chapters of course! I just wanted to let you guys know so you weren't, like, worried or anything.**

**Thanks to MalacoxMarabou, begitte, i LiKe iNSaNiTY, and idontknow826 for following!**

**Also thanks to N92.9141b for the friendly review and the PM conversation we're having! (you're so cool bro!)**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_September 15th, 1943. 2330._

Daniela lay on her back, gazing at the ceiling. She had painted it herself with paint bought a few years back, when it was cheaper, and easier to come by. She had a garden on her ceiling: roses, cornflowers, lavender, marigold, and poppies bloomed, their leaves forming a 2-dimensional canopy of green to dampen the painted moonlight. Glimpses of stars could be spotted between the foliage, giving the impression that the person looking up at the mural was a small bug.

She sighed, sitting up. It was absolutely impossible for her to fall asleep. The night was balmy, her blankets too thick, and her mind racing with too many thoughts to give her a break anytime soon. Across the room, someone sat up. The covers rustled noisily, catching Daniela's attention. She turned her head. It was Lukas. She lowered herself into a half-sitting position on her elbows.

The boy seemed to be having a similar problem to Daniela. He gazed out the window from the bed he was sharing with Emil. Mathias occupied the room's other bed. Daniela had volunteered to sleep on the floor in a pile of blankets in front of the small fireplace until her father, a carpenter, built her one. Another would be built for Emil as well.

The room had been hers until her new brothers came, but it was she who had decided to share. The Køhlers would have just slept downstairs in the sitting room or cellar, but Daniela brought up the fact that her room contained two beds, the extra usually reserved for visiting family members. And not that she minded. Having been an only child, and a shy person in general, Daniela was ready for a companion. Her parents agreed, deciding that the girl was in need of socialization anyway.

Lukas noticed Daniela watching him, the sheen of her spectacles (which she was still wearing) giving her away, and got out of bed. He sat by her feet and stared back at her, his bluish-grey eyes strangely luminous, like a cat's, in the hazy dark.

After a while, Daniela awkwardly waved at him. The 9-year-old shyly did likewise. She fumbled for a candle, matches, a piece of paper, and a pen.

"Can't sleep, Lukas?" She wrote in careful, narrow, Danish. He nodded and took the writing materials from her.

"No. It's too warm." He paused, then slowly wrote: "I don't know your name yet." He handed it to her with a sheepish look.

"It's Daniela. Are you happy to be living in Stockholm?"

"Yes. You speak very good Danish."

"It's very close to Swedish."

"Did you paint the ceiling?"

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"Yes. It's a little scary in the night though. But it's really pretty." He added as an afterthought.

"Do you want to go back to bed?"

Lukas shook his head slightly. "Emil's too warm."

"I'll give you the first bed Papa makes. Go to bed. You need sleep. Lay on top of the blankets if you're too warm."

"Alright." The boy crawled off of Daniela's blankets and onto his own bed. He touched something on the bedside table and lay down.

She made sure he fell asleep before following her own advice and going to sleep herself.

Daniela decided she might like this older sister thing.

* * *

**Dude! No translations! That's kind of a first! However, if some of the translations in other chapters (past or upcoming) are inaccurate, shoot me a review or a message! I'd love to make them correct!**

**Have a nice day/night/class/lunch break/whatever!**

**Med elsker,**

**Esta**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys!**

**While my mom is singing about Rice-a-Roni and I finished a new chapter, I figured I might as well update for y'all. I did a LOT of research about Swedish (like seriously a ton). Also, a note: While I know St. Lucia Day is pretty important in Sweden, I chose to not include it in the story. (That would be a lot MORE research and definitely delay an upload so...) just assume it happened. Or maybe the Oxenstiernas decided not to include it because the boys weren't used to it. I dunno. Use creative license there. **

**Thank you to N92.9141b and javlatua for reviewing (I appreciate it so much!), sillypony8 and javlatua for following, and javlatua for favoriting. (Wow javlatua, you're just doing everything! Thanks!)**

**_*Things written in italics are spoken in Danish by the characters*_**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_December 25th, 1943. 0640._

Mathias opened his eyes early with the feeling that this day was special. The snow outside on neighbors' roofs glared orangey-pink in the sunrise light.

Emil shot up in his own bed. "_Christmas_!" He exclaimed, throwing off his covers. Lukas sat up too, blearily.

"_Iskolde, sssshhh. You're so loud you woke up Lukas_!" Mathias joked. He looked over at Daniela's bed. (They all had their own by now). There was no sign of the girl, or her spectacles. Mathias went to the chifforobe and dressed himself in a thick, woolly sweater. He combed the spikes in his hair flat (or attempted to), then brushed it back like Lukas'. He dressed Emil similarly, then went downstairs, toddler in tow, trusting Lukas could get himself washed up and dressed.

Mama was in the kitchen, fixing breakfast.

"Mama, where has Daniela gone?" Mathias asked in Swedish. He had been trying to learn, and eventually Emil would as well.

"Check the sitting room." Mama suggested, keeping her back turned to hide the cheeky smile that played across her lips.

Sure enough, Daniela was there, sorting through a small pile of paper-wrapped parcels. She wore a warm knit dress and knit stockings. Her hair had been neatly braided by her mother, and she had cleaned her glasses, something she never usually bothered to do.

"Happy Christmas." She greeted the boys.

"Happy Christmas!" Mathias replied. He set Emil down on the sofa and walked over to Daniela.

"These were brought by the tomte?" He asked, trying to understand how Christmas worked in Sweden, indicating the packages.

"He and the julbok brought them to Mama and Papa, who put them here." She nodded once for affirmation.

She arranged the four, small, piles of parcels under the bushy little pine tree that had been brought in a few days ago and had been decorated by the Køhlers with candles, straw goats, Danish and Swedish flags, and little gnomes with red tasseled hats. Daniela, standing on the sofa, had added a shiny, gold-painted, wooden star to the very top.

"Breakfast!" Mama called. She set four bowls, from which steam rose lazily, on the kitchen table.

Daniela, Emil, and Mathias sat down to porridge sweetened by raspberry jam (Syltade Hallon in Swedish). Lukas joined a few minutes later, his mother's old cross-shaped hair pin impeccably polished in his hair, having been alerted by the porridge's scent wafting up to the upper level of the house.

Papa entered the kitchen, filled himself a cup of coffee, received a bowl of porridge from his wife, and sat down to eat it, ruffling Emil's hair playfully.

"God jul." He said.

"God jul Papa." Daniela said, setting down her spoon.

"_Glædelig jul_!" Emil offered, excited to be part of the conversation he was getting the basic gist of, Christmas.

"_Is that Danish_?" Daniela turned to him.

The little boy nodded smugly, obviously very proud of himself to have taught someone 10 years older than himself something they didn't know.

"Would you like to open you packages now?" Mama said, setting down her own coffee.

Everyone moved to the sitting room with their coffee cups and glasses of milk, and was handed their gifts (each had 3) by Daniela. Lukas smiled a tiny smile at her. He carefully unwrapped the package he was holding.

In the newspaper wrapping lay a pair of knitted mittens. They were red with a cuff, decorated with blue and white yarn woven in. Each child received a pair. Mathias' were also red, decorated with black and white. Emil's were dark blue with white and red, and Daniela's were dark blue with light blue and white.

Mathias moved to open the next package and the others mirrored him. This wrapping contained a small carved wooden horse, each painted in the same color schemes as the mittens, with the recipient's name emblazoned on the side. Emil picked his horse up, immediately named it "Puffin", and made it dance across Lukas' lap. Lukas stood his horse up as well, lightly bumping "Puffin" with little clicking sounds.

The third package was opened and Daniela's jaw dropped, her mouth making a little "O" shape. A pig, carefully formed out of marzipan, curly tail and all, stared back at her. The boys didn't quite understand.

"A marzipan pig!" She gasped, knocking Emil's hand away when he tried to eat his.

Papa handed Mama a package. "I made it for you." He said. She opened it to a candleholder. Above where the candles would sit were little wooden angels, each under a little hanging chime. Mama gasped.

"Bjorn it's beautiful! We'll use it at dinner!" She exclaimed, giving her husband a quick kiss.

"Eeeww!" Squealed Emil. Mathias laughed.

"Get your boots and coats on!" Mama suggested. "You can wear your new mittens to church!"

The family geared up with their mittens, warm coats, snow boots, and hats (though Daniela proffered earmuffs), and headed down the snowy Stockholm street to church for Christmas Mass.

* * *

_December 25th, 1943. 1420._

Mathias ran, hitting the door with a large KLUNK from his momentum.

"I won!_I won_!" He yelled, in both Swedish and in Danish.

After church, the family had gone to the town square to look at the yearly Christmas market and all the festivities going on outside their own doorstep. They window-shopped the sweet treats and playful baubles that accompanied the season. They stopped to buy a bunch of Poinsettias (Julstjärna in Swedish), finished browsing the market, then bought lunch of open-faced sandwiches. They ate, and the children raced home.

Once in the house, Daniela helped her mother put the flowers in a vase, and the boys were called in to help make ginger cookies (Pepparkakor in Swedish). They cut the dough into star shapes and placed it on a tray to bake.

Once the cookies were in the oven, the children went off to play with their new wooden horses. They built houses out of books for them, and gave them all names.

Besides Emil's "Puffin", there was also "Breidr" (Lukas'), "Eskild" (Mathias'), and "Stjärna" (Daniela's).

After all the cookies had baked, Daniela was called to help make dinner, and the boys were left alone to play. Lukas left immediately after Daniela did, and sat on his bed, reading a book. Breidr left with him.

Puffin and Eskild went along with their horse lives in their book houses, getting jobs and doing chores around the house (by order of their invisible horse wives) until Mathias and Emil were called down to dinner, bringing Lukas with them.

The table had been set beautifully. All around the poinsettias were placed candleholders, including the angel chime Papa had made, which, as of now, was unlit.

Between the plates, glasses, napkins, silverware, and candles was a large array of food. Right beside the flowers was the Christmas ham (Julskinka in Swedish), coated in mustard, egg, and breadcrumbs, then roasted in the oven. A little plate of Prinskorv (small sausages, like baby hot dogs) and various cheeses circulated around, as well as meatballs (Köttbullar), Vörtlimpa (a type of rye bread for Christmas with orange peel and raisins), and a dish called Janssons frestelse (Jansson's temptation); a casserole made of potatoes, small anchovy-like fish called sprats, onions, breadcrumbs, and cream.

The children had been given Julmust to drink (like a really sweet root beer special for Christmas). Mama and Papa had glögg, a Scandinavian type of mulled wine (it's really common in Norway in Sweden. I think it has another name in Danish). Although they weren't generally big alcohol drinkers, today was an exception, being a holiday.

Once everyone had finished with their dinner, Mrs. Oxenstierna brought in pepparkakor cookies for everyone, a box of Knäck (really hard Christmas toffee made for sucking on), and a pan of Risgryngot, rice pudding with an almond cooked into it. Whoever gets the almond gets to make a wish.

Everyone dug into the sweets and the angel chime was lit, twinkly sounds accenting the sweet Christmas feeling. About halfway through eating his pudding, Emil made a face.

"_Why is there a crunchy thing in it_?" The child asked Mathias.

"Mama, Emil wants to know why there's something crunchy in his pudding." The 12-year-old translated.

"_'T's an almond_." Daniela explained. "_Y' get to make a wish_."

"_I wish that our family stays safe and we make lots of new friends_!" Emil decided.

"_You weren't supposed to say it aloud-but okay Iskolde. It's a good wish._" Mathias said in response. He stuck his toffee piece in his mouth after attempting to bite it, but only making his jaw sore.

Lukas sucked on his cookie, making it last longer, and gazed at the swaying flames of the candles placed in the windowsill.

After dinner, the family went to the sitting room where Papa told stories (and Lukas read over his shoulder) until the children had to go up to bed, wooden horses and Christmas gnomes creeping into their sugary sweet dreams.

* * *

**If you have questions or anything, just shoot me a message or something! Love you all! See y'all ASAP!**

**-Esta**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello Readers!**

**Omigoodness! I'm so glad I got this done just in time for a weekly update! (If you can't already tell, school makes one quite busy).**

**We get a Finland! Yay! He's gonna be kinda shy and~shall I say it~Norway-ish right now, but that might be explained. (Might meaning if you catch the explanation).**

**And they're all gonna be speaking Swedish, so no italics!**

**Thank you to javlatua for following and reviewing! It means a lot and I'm glad you think Sweden is an adorable big sister! I think so too! **

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

_February 7th, 1944. 0850._

They sat at the breakfast table. The radio played the news, reporting the situation in neighboring countries and around the world. They were minor reports and the family kept quietly eating.

All of a sudden, the radio broadcast a large crackling sound and the usual report was interrupted.

"Breaking News: Last night at around 1923, Soviet aircraft bombed Helsinki, Finland, and its surrounding area. Casualty reports are still pending, but so far 72 deaths and 234 injuries have been reported. What else the Swedish government knows is that the Soviet bombers arrived in two waves, one at 1851 which lasted until 2140 and another earlier this morning lasting from 0057 until 0457. Survivors are being rescued from damaged buildings and will be brought to Swedish cities and elsewhere in Finland. We now go back to your regularly scheduled programming." Another large crackle, and Papa switched the radio off.

Breakfast was finished in silence. The children were sent upstairs to get dressed. After a brief moment of the adults silently staring at each other, the telephone phone rang.

"Hos Oxenstierna." Papa answered, placing his ear next to one receiver, and positioning the other by his mouth.

"Hello Mr. Oxenstierna." The voice on the other said. "I know you just recently took in three children, and this such short notice but-"

"Get to the point please." Papa interrupted.

"I'm sure you've heard of the situation in Helsinki?" The woman on the phone continued.

"Ja. Are you saying you want us to take in another child?"

"Yes. He's about your daughter's age, an only child. He speaks very good Swedish!"

"Can we think on it?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Oxenstierna, but I'm afraid many others will want him, and you're the best fit."

"Give me a minute so Britta and I may talk it over."

"Yes sir." The receptionist covered her end of the receiver with one hand.

Papa told Mama of the situation. She agreed. Papa turned back the telephone.

"Hello? We'll take him."

"Oh good! His name is Tino. When should I bring him over?" The lady said excitably.

"Wednesday would be best."

"Alright. I'll see you then Mr. Oxenstierna!"

"Yes. Goodby Magda, we'll see you on Wednesday." The excitable receptionist hung up the phone.

Mathias, who had been silently eavesdropping from the stairs, ran to tell the others.

* * *

_February 9th, 1944. 1920._

Mama was making dinner when there was a knock on the door.

"Daniela, gullunge, will you answer that?"

The girl opened the door to a radiantly smiling woman leading a sullen-looking blonde boy with a bandage on his face.

"Hello." Daniela greeted cautiously. "May I help you?"

"Hi! Are you Daniela Oxenstierna?" The woman inquired, movi ng the boy~who had begun to slink behind her~in front of her.

"Yes. Why are you wondering?" Daniela smoothed her hair down.

"Your parents told you another child was coming to live with you?"

"Uh. Yes." She only half-lied. She knew the boy was coming to live with them, but Mathias had told her, not her parents.

The boy looked a little intimidated by her presence, so Daniela put on her friendly face, which she hoped wasn't as scary as her normal one.

"Hi. I'm Daniela. What's your name?" She smiled.

The boy took a step back.

"Uh. I-I'm Tino." He said timidly.

"Daniela, is your father here?" The lady who brought Tino asked.

"He should be in his shop." Daniela pointed the direction.

"Thank you! I'll leave Tino here so you can introduce him to your other brothers!" She skipped off.

"Other brothers?" Tino looked alarmed.

"They're Danish. They came in September. Don't worry, they're not related to me." Daniela explained, understanding that she probably really intimidated Tino.

She brought the shy blonde upstairs and showed him which bed was his. (She herself was back to her pile of pillows and blankets. Not that she minded). Mathias approached and clapped a hand on Tino's shoulder.

"Hej! I'm Mathias!" He pointed out the other two boys. "These are Lukas and Emil." Emil waved. Lukas continued trotting Breidr around the rug. "Lukas is deaf, so he doesn't talk much." The 12-year-old warned quietly. He had made it a point recently to warn people of Lukas' disability at first meeting instead of allowing the surprise of finding out the hard way.

"I'm Tino." He introduced himself tersely. He gently messed with the bandage across his cheek and placed his suitcase next to his bed, sitting down and bouncing to test the mattress.

Daniela went back downstairs to finish helping Mama with dinner.

"Tino is here now, Mama." She said, getting plates and glasses out of the cupboard to set the table.

"I heard." Mama replied, still facing the potatoes she was cooking. "Are you excited to have another brother, gumman?"

Daniela shrugged. "I don't know yet. He still seems a bit shy." She moved to go put the dishes on the table.

When she returned, Mrs. Oxenstierna was draining the potatoes, little droplets of steam from the sink catching in her fine blonde hair.

"I'm setting the table for seven, right Mama?" She said, getting napkins and silverware from a drawer.

"Seven? I think so." Mama paused to count on her fingers. "Yes. Seven."

Once Daniela left once again with the table settings, Mama let out a large, stressed, sigh.

The food was placed on the table and the boys were called in for dinner.

Emil ate a potato, then suddenly put his fork down, looking alarmed.

"Does Tino get a horse?" The boy realized.

"If Tino wants one." Papa replied as if he were perfectly used to such outbursts (which he was. Emil had had many sudden mealtime revelations during the months he'd lived in Stockholm).

"A horse?" Tino was confused.

"Yeah! Like Puffin!" Emil exclaimed.

"A toy horse." Daniela clarified.

"Oh. I guess a horse could be nice." Tino decided, putting a piece of smoked salmon in his mouth.

They finished their meal without learning much about Tino, and the children were sent up to bed after being given cookies and glasses of milk.

* * *

**Translations (Swedish Pet Names):**

**Gullunge="Sweet child" basically. **

**Gumman/Lilla gumman="Little old lady". Gubban/Lilla gubban for guys.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed! If my translations or something need correction, feel free to give me the correct version!**

**Have a nice week!**

**-Esta**


	7. Chapter 6

**'Ello!**

**I know I nearly missed a week! BUT I DIDN'T. And that's what matters. (Even though I had three sick days...I learned Danish. But you know writers, when inspiration strikes...)**

**Anyway, thanks to N92.9141b (finally memorized your name!) for the review! I'm glad I'm writing Finland correctly since he isn't really a character I typically use all that much.**

**Just a warning: This chapter's a little sad. (man those backstories...) Just a warning. Can't blame me for tears (well you can, but I'M SO SORRY)**

**Also, I keep forgetting to tell you guys that I betaread now! Last time I checked, my name was on the last page of the betareader list so... If you want me to proofread your stuff, check out my guidelines and shoot me a message! I'd be happy to help.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_February 7th, 1944. 2145._

No-one had really gone to sleep but Mama and Papa. They sat in the middle of the room on the floor, wrapped in blankets Daniela had given them to keep out the February chill. They talked quietly by the flickering light of the candles Daniela had taken from the kitchen because electricity couldn't be used at night, so as to make the city nearly undetectable to overhead aircraft.

The conversation was pleasant, of school, and sweets, and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Lukas even joined a few times, in writing, after reading the others' lips.

They were going through what their middle names were (Tino's was Aapeli, Daniela's Eleonora), and Mathias' big brother instinct had kicked in, making him answer for his younger siblings as well (His was Søren, Lukas' Nils, and Emil's Sindri), when out of the blue, Emil extracted himself from his cocoon of blankets and crossed the circle to poke Tino's bandage.

"What happened to your face?" He inquired, his violetty-blue eyes gleaming with concern and curiosity. Tino immediately flushed red and he tried to find the right words to explain to the toddler, flustered.

"Emil!" Mathias scolded. "That wasn't a very nice question!" He pulled the fluffy-haired boy in question onto his lap.

"No, no! Really! It's okay! I was just caught a bit off guard because it was so random, y'know?" Tino insisted, laughing nervously. "My face got cut by a piece of glass, Emil. It'll be okay in a couple of weeks." Emil nodded, squirming off Mathias' lap back into his blanket pile. Daniela wrote down what Tino had said for Lukas, who was looking at his baby brother a bit curiously.

Eventually, Emil fell asleep, and Lukas decided to go to bed as well, since he wasn't a very big part of the conversation anyway, and he thought the "big kids" would want to talk amongst themselves for a while.

Tino changed his bandage then, with a bit of help from Daniela, revealing a few cuts on his cheek, held closed with a few neat black stitches each.

"So that happened last night?" Mathias piped up after a short silence.

"Oh? Yeah. Pieces of glass from the window in my living room cut my cheek. Like I said to Emil, they aren't too bad. They might scar a little, but they should heal pretty quickly." Tino said, brought out of his own thoughts. He smoothed down the last bit of medical tape.

"Your window exploded?" Daniela said, messing with the edge of a blanket.

"The wall exploded. There was bricks, and glass, and plaster, and splinters from the front door..." Tino's thumb absent-mindedly rubbed a bruise on his arm.

"And you only got hit by a brick and a piece of glass when the _entire_ front of your house was destroyed?" Mathias was pretty impressed.

"I hid behind the sofa." Tino shrugged. "I knew to do it because my father wanted me to join the army when I'm older, so he decided to train me to use a gun and act like a soldier."

"Why wasn't your father behind the sofa then?" Daniela pressed.

"He and my mother didn't think it was real. They thought the siren was a drill because there had been so many earlier in the week. By the time they realized it wasn't fake, it was too late." Tino pressed his lips together, his voice choking up.

"I'm so sorry." Daniela said, as loud as she dared with the two younger Køhlers sleeping. She put an arm around Tino and rubbed his arm comfortingly (or so she hoped). He recoiled at first at the touch, but then leaned into Daniela a bit.

Mathias stood and began to put Daniela's blankets back. "Maybe we should go to bed now." He suggested. Tino wiped his eyes, Daniela blew out the candles and put the stubs in a drawer for future use. They all climbed into bed, and so ended Tino's first day with the Oxenstiernas.

* * *

**To recap:**

**•Yes, I did give all the Hetalia characters middle names. (And the nyotalia characters, and the 2P's...)**

**•I betaread! (Whoo!)**

**•I will talk to you if you'd like! (I won't bite, I promise)**

**•I'm really sorry that was sad. I thought I should give an explanation as to why Tino is so good with guns though, so I hope that made sense.**

**Have a nice day/night/sickie/lunch break/life!**

**Catch you on the flip side!**

**-Esta**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys!**

**It's raining! Yay! I was away all weekend and so I literally wrote this whole chapter in like half an hour. Also! We get a little bit of conflict! Yay plot development!**

**Thank you to PastaandNutella and i'm-a-Harry-Potter-rebel for following! Also thanks to i'm-a-Harry-Potter-rebel and amichalap for favoriting! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that you guys are enjoying the story and want to know where it's going.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Esta**

* * *

_March 20th, 1944. 0645._

Tino had settled in nicely. He never seemed to interact with Emil much, and Mathias was still a bit overwhelming to him, but he enjoying spending time with Lukas, doing schoolwork while the younger boy read, and he and Daniela became close friends quickly as well. The little Finn had also lost a bit of his nervousness, though Papa still intimidated him a little.

Daniela, Tino, and Mathias attended school together at a school nearby their house. On this particular day, the three older children were preparing themselves for school; getting dressed in their uniforms, which were carefully and lovingly washed and starched by Mama, combing their hair neatly, and moving downstairs to collect breakfast (open-faced sandwiches, also by Mama) after waking up the little boys.

As the trio sat and ate, Mama quietly came up behind Daniela and loosened the hair ribbon the girl was required to wear for school. The young Swede turned abruptly.

"Mama! What are you doing? I need to wear that for school!" She protested, trying to snatch it back in order to put retie it into her hair.

"Daniela, you're not going to school today, gumman." Mama said ruefully, laying the silky white ribbon, frayed at the edges, on the tabletop.

"What? Why not?" Daniela exclaimed in disbelief.

"I would rather you go to school too, gumman, but the war is very hard on us. Your father and I have decided that the only thing we can do to stay afloat right now is for you to work instead of going to school." Mama smiled apologetically.

Daniela tried to let the fact sink in. She looked up at Mama as if she didn't quite believe her.

"Think of your brothers, Ela. You want them to stay here, donn't you?" Daniela didn't need to see Mathias' sudden alarmed expression to nod agreement.

"Yes Mama. What job do I have?" She asked after thinking it through a little,

"You're going to be doing laundry for people around town. Bjorn already put together a list of his customers who wanted their laundry done. Put on work clothes once you finish breakfast and you may start." Mama left to go make Lukas and Emil's breakfasts, and the trio were left at the table.

Tino looked heartbroken. "I don't want to go to school now! Everyone will pick on me without you there, Daniela!" He rubbed his arm absently. The bruise had yellowed and was nearly gone y now, but at school, most people loved to tease the short, chubby Finnish boy with the funny accent and the scars across his face. Up until then, Daniela had acted as his bodyguard, her intimidating aura keeping bullies far away from her new brother.

"I give my protector duties to Mathias. He might not scare people away like I do, but he would actually physically beat them up." Daniela said, seemingly without much thought. Mathias bared his teeth and clapped a fist into his other hand a few times. It was more adorable than ferocious, due to Mathias' impish features, but at least the boy was motivated. It also helped that Mathias was in the same year as the other two, despite being a year younger.

"Alright." Tino agreed as Lukas came down the stairs, carrying Emil on his back.

The older boys took this as their cue to go to school, and said goodby to Daniela.

Mama placed sandwiches in front of the younger boys. "Guess what? Daniela gets to stay home with you two today!" She said with false enthusiasm.

Daniela excused herself to change clothes. "This is going to be a long rest of the war." She thought.

* * *

_March 20th, 1944. 0930._

Daniela, now dressed in a dress usually saved for the summers, when she helped Mama around the house, retrieved her list of clients from Papa. She put on her shoes that were best for walking and went to collect her patrons' laundry. ("May I have your laundry? Thank you. Oh no no no, pay me when it's clean.")

She started with the ones that were farthest from her house and worked her way closer. By the time she returned to her house, the pile had grown to nearly twice her height, and she could swear it weighed the same as two Mathiases.

She opened the front door of her house with her hip, turning the handle with only her pinkie finger.

"Mama!" She called, knowing Mrs. Oxenstierna was in the house somewhere. "Where should I put the laundry I need to wash?"

"The yard Ela! You've done this before! You know what you're doing! Make sure you separate piles by whose clothes everything is too!" Mama advised from the kitchen, which she was spotlessly cleaning to get ready for making lunch in a few hours.

Daniela dumped the clothes into a pile in the yard, where Mama had put a washtub and set up a clothesline for her. She trusted her memory to sort the laundry by client, filled the tub with laundry soap and water, and began to wash.

By the time Daniela had finished all the laundry, and decided through lots of rounds of scientific testing by her own brain that hanging the wet clothes on the line was her favorite part of the task, lunch was ready and had been brought out to her by Mama (she didn't notice), and the boys had returned from school. Daniela's fingers had turned wrinkled and swollen from the water and the washboard she was using, and she was glad when she finally dried her hands off with a towel.

She sat in the sun in the yard and ate her lunch late. Tino walked outside and sat next to her, opening up a book and studying it for one of his classes.

"Was school alright today?" Daniela turned to him, putting her glasses back on her nose from where they had resided on the top her head to minimize the glare from the sun in her eyes as she worked.

"I guess." Tino sighed. "It wasn't as fun without you there though."

"Don't worry, this wasn't as fun as school either. I'm surprised Lukas hasn't gone mad from boredom yet." Daniela assured him. She put down her lunch. It wasn't any good anymore anyway. "Let's go inside." She stood, helped Tino up, and held open the door for him to enter. They went upstairs to the children's bedroom and Daniela got out a book to read.

"So what are you supposed to do for your job for tomorrow?" Tino inquired, peeking his nose out of his schoolbook.

"I have to return all the laundry I washed today, collect the money, and get more laundry from other people who told Papa they wanted me to wash their laundry."

"So you're just going to do the same thing everyday basically." Tino concluded.

"Pretty much. At least until the war is over." Daniela agreed.

"Well I wish it is over soon so you can come back to school with Mathias and I."

"I do to, Tino. I think most people hope it's over soon." Daniela said.

They went back to reading until they were called for dinner. Afterwards, Daniela was so exhausted that she fell directly asleep to do the same thing tomorrow.

* * *

**Poor Daniela! All she wants is to go to school and protect her Tino! But times are hard for people with five kids...**

**Gumman=Swedish pet name meaning "little old woman"**

**See you guys next week!**

**Have a nice one!**

**Tchüss!**

**-Esta ^u^**


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